Since the Siege of El Dorado began with not one, but three bangs; the city itself has been overrun from within and without by the forces arrayed against it. While fighting occurs throughout the city and outside of it, there have been many actions undertaken by the Samaritans of New Mexico who call this place home or at least consider it close to one.

Enclave Search and Seizure Teams operating in Rural El Dorado are stopped, thanks to small teams of individuals who went after the Enclave Commandos responsible for kidnapping many residents of the Rural area. (Player Run Event Completed.)

The fires that were raging across El Dorado have been put out by teams of civilian firefighters along with El Dorado's own Fire Department, thanks to increased organizational efforts by some of the more experienced Samaritans among the population of El Dorado and the surrounding area. (Quest 61 Completed.)

Two of the Bombers within El Dorado who were responsible for the initial attacks have been found and dealt with, but the third remains on the loose and has unfortunately been able to setup several more rigged explosives before he is stopped by a handful of surviving deputies of the Sheriff's Department in a gunfight that leaves neither party alive at the end. (Quest 62 Completed & Quest 63 Failed.)

Thanks to Air Defenses setup across the city, both standard and non-standard (you know, Jury-Rigged!), The Enclave has a hard time bringing in further air support. This also has the positive side effect of preventing further kidnappings and giving the forces within the city a chance to rally. No doubt, The Militia will be able to salvage a Vertibird from all of the wreckage in the area, maybe the Air Force will have a single plane after this is all over! (Quest 64 Completed.)

The many wounded across the city are aided thanks to medical relief efforts spearheaded by the Doctors of both the Shantytown Clinic and Vault Town who provide the kind of aid that saves lives constantly, even if it is a drain on valuable medical supplies. Lives were more valuable than supplies, and time was in short supply to save them all. Many a Militia Soldier was able to wield a weapon and get back into the fight after being patched up. (Quest 65 Completed.)

On the Western Gates, the Militia is reporting that they have managed to prevent the Mutants from pushing any further into the city, but their casualties have been high, with an estimated two hundred soldiers having lost their lives in the past day alone.

In the South, The Enclave Armored Division has made their move, a half-dozen tanks, and at least one mechanized spider-walker amidst the group begin to open fire on the newly constructed walls of Shantytown as infantry begin to move in to push the assault. It was not just Enclave soldiers though amongst those infantry, there were Gunners, and other mercenaries taking part in the attack.

Every available man and woman who could hold a gun was being called to Shantytown to take up arms and push back The Enclave before they could break through the gates in a final push that would crush the city if it was not stopped.

The fighting was already at its height, with soldiers from El Dorado fighting against Enclave on the walls themselves. The tanks began to advance preparing to hit the city hard, when a series of explosive charges ripped through the ground in precise targeted explosions that made short work of three of the tanks almost utterly while damaging two others. (Player Job to make explosives from moonshine!)

Sand Viper tribals pushed out with spears and knives, the occasional gun, charging one of the tanks in an attempt to swarm it. The Senior Guardians declared it was time to prove their worth and advanced in their power armor to do what they could against the damaged tanks, they would give no quarter and expected none in return.

As the smoke began to clear from the explosions, the Spider-Mech moved towards the wall and fired off a burst from its chin-mounted twin plasma gatlings; disintegrating defenders where they stood. Rocket pods opened up on the back of the behemoth and it sent them flying into the sky, death raining down upon the defenders and attackers alike on the wall.

If the assault was going to be stopped, that Mech had to go. It was clear what your target would be and what would define where the battle would be headed. This was the time to turn the tide.

If it wasn't one thing, it was another Vera thinks. So many people out to destroy one small area of the world. ITs been a hard few days, and she holds up as best as she can. Watching the explosions, but she keeps an eye on the mech. "Right, so the big boy needs to be taken out..I wonder if we had 10,000 marbles....no, that won't work." As she gives her carbine a check, "It takes, what it takes."

Iris gathers with a group of people preparing to take on the mech. She, like everyone else, is preparing to do whatever is necessary to take down the mech so that they could take the fight to the Enclave. People were trying to figure out the weak spots, and lots of shouting and prep is being made. She stands quiet as she waits for the military folk to come up with a plan. She hopes it's a good one.

The most senior guardian of them all, Caldwell; had arrived on scene with his laser musket, armed wih T-51 and pissed off. He cracks his knuckles and neck and gets into a combat stance, beginning to give inspiration to the troops to fight harder. "Men, and women of the Militia, of the gunners, of El Dorado! We stand not as a seperate entity on this day, but as a united front. People will recognize this day as the day when El Dorado was called to arms, and you better god damn believe we answered that call. Today marks the day the Enclave and their cohorts were pushed back! They are nothing more then your common thug! Work together, work hard, and we all live to see this through! FOR EL DORADO!" he shouts. Raising his musket in the air and going into some cover to get ready to pop some shots at enclave soldiers.

Akane and Surelda //just// got here. Like, just. Escorted in by Ashur and Lee, the two young women have stuck together so far. Well, Surelda has stuck by Akane, walking arm-in-arm with the other woman as much as the other woman would permit. Now is no different, except that slender arm is coiled tightly with Akane's, almost giving her arm a head-lock. Further, Surelda has dipped her face and cheek toward the other woman in a self-protective way, as if she could make herself smaller, and thereby a smaller target.

She's not dressed for war, not prepared for it. Her white-bleached hair is pulled in front of either shoulder in loose pigtails. She wears a knee-length flounced black skirt, boots, leggings, and a black tank top. A small backpack rests across her back.

Another explosion sound draws Surelda's face up and swivels her head to look off in that direction. "What do we do?" she asks of Akane, her tone mostly flat, but her eyes and face giving away her abject terror and confusion about what's going on. "Where do we go, there's nowhere safe, we're going to be ground to ashes!" On that, she speaks with absolute certainty.

Matt has left the inner city to help out on the front lines. A stimpack, ammo, and rifle. Not much else to be carried because he doesn't own too much more than that. A push through the crowd brings him shoulder to shoulder with Iris to watch the speech. He bumps her lightly to announce his presence. "In for a fun night, eh?" Rifle across his front, and his spare bumping across his back. Hes looking 'round though. *Someone* is gonna need a rifle, right?

Sighing she would just shake her head a bit as she had followed in behind Iris and sighed. "....I get back and of course....all crap breaks loose...." Slinging her gun on her shoulder she would then pull her long hair up into a ponytail and cracked her neck. She'd wait to see what the plan is...for now. Gun locked and loaded, she was ready to do what needed to be done to make sure she didn't die because honestly....that would just suck. A lick of her lips as she then tilted her head and looked out at the big boy that was causing all the mischief. ".....well hell...."

The fighting is indeed intense. Knight-Captain Rexus scans the battlefield from the walls, watching as the tanks and Enclave soldiers advance. "Aim for the officers." he intones to the lesser experienced soldiers on the walls, who sees tanks out in these wastes anyways? Standing tall in his power armor, festooned with the insignia of the Brotherhood of Steel.. and toting that nifty looking Gatling laser... it's a pretty stirring sight to see that behemoth belching its BRRRRRT of death across the Enclave soldiers when it fires.

The approach of the mech causes some concern, "Aim for the tracks, immobilize it... then get molotovs onto the engine block or satchel charges on the back, the weakest point's are the top an rear." he shouts to all who may listen.

Surelda and Akane made two separate images. While Surelda looked like she was making herself as tiny as possible and clinging to the other woman, Akane strode with a graceful confidence. Her hood was back up and it shielded her hair and eyes from casual glances. But Surelda would note not a single tremble passed through the woman as they entered. She reached down and patted Surelda's arm lightly. "You can stay back or help me. Find me if anyone is hurt enough to need aid." She rubbed Surelda's back lightly and extricated herself finally, directing the older girl toward cover. "I'm going to go prove I'm just a liar." She slid her cloak back just a bit, exposing a holster and pistol as well as simple leather armor, her dress, and armor both in a romanesque style. Unless stopped she would stride forward. Hearing Rexus' words and orders, the hooded cloaked woman would scan the scene, walking calmly but determinedly to a place with some cover before checking her pistol and searching for an Officer Target to pewpew at...

Well she doesn't have a handy dandy pocketed rocket launcher or anything that's really built for handlng something as massive as a spider mech. she does have a couple pistols and an assault carbine... Kae's crimson eyes are veritably glowing at this point as she makes her way out to where ever it is she's assigned, the woman shouldering her assault rifle. At this point CORA comments "I commend your bravery and all Kae, but umm, this is big time sweety. NOt gonna tell ya to or not to do this, but well yah, just remember, there's two of us and be very careful ok?" Kae shrugs slowly. "Gonna plug in the earbud and all, just keep me appraised of issues and help me aim. I think we'll be fine." Kae responds and does just that, so she can be the only one hearing CORA at this point as she steps up to the line as it were.

Escort is too generous a word -- while Ashur arrives with Akane and Surelda, it is clear there's no love lost between the group; the Legionnaire, clad in his billowing cloak and the fiery hellclaw hide, demonstrates little visible concern for them, and they no doubt stare daggers into his back.

"Keep to cover," he instructs them, "and avoid the gates as best you can. Find a gun, if you can; hide if you can't." A pause. "Stay where I can see you, and I will keep you alive."

There's no love lost between that group, no. But come the time for battle, and all of Ashur's inherent dickery makes way for that peculiar bloodthirsting nobility. It's far more glorious to face danger yourself, after all.

He moves south, toward that massive mech. What a beast! He's already smiling at the thought of ripping it apart. How to get on its back, though..

Explosions and hellfire. The dogs of war have been unleashed onto the city, and all that hard work on the wall would have gone to waste if not... well Cooper didn't have time to think about that.

He was busy drinking when the fighting broke out, busy trying to drown past sorrows in the bottle. There was no way he was leaving that bar, at least untill the bartender left with his shotgun to go join the front lines. It was a hell of a thing, warfare. He'd gotten used to it since becoming a currier, seen his fair share from coast to coast during his travels throughout the land.

One last swig is taken from his glass thrown back to the back of his throat as he stands up from the bar in his warn down suit which had once been a fresh black now worn down by the years to little more then a patchwork brown. The tie was one of the few things left in regular working order, as he stood up from the bar and headed back for the door, a pistol slung at his hip.

Stepping out into the chaos in the streets Cooper stumbles slightly for a moment, the booze hitting his head hard and fast, as he looks around. There's a pause while the pure chaos sets in, before he's moving off towards the closest defender, his hand hovers over that quick holster of his on his belt.

Ashur's words jerks Matt's chin around. Find a gun, Matt has an extra. He moves through cover the little distance that separates them and pulls the AK out from behind his back to survey the group. "Hey? Who isn't armed over here?"

"Where the hell do they get all that stuff from anyway." Carter wonders aloud, as he looks across the wall at the armored column and the spider tank. He frowns under his helmet, "Like is there some kind of big pre-war armory somewhere with all these fancy toys? Because I'd love to find it.."

He has brought his souvineer from the Mexico expedition with him. A rocket launcher, loaded with armor penetrating rounds. He only has a couple of them, so he'll need to make sure each of the shots counts. Which means he's going to need to stay alive until that spider mech is inside of his range.

"Find wounded. Right," Surelda mutters to herself, turning her back on Akane and scanning the space for cover. She finds some, and subsequently finds herself crouched against a cement half-wall partition that keeps her as far from any oncoming bullets as possible. She seems fairly content to stay there, in sight of Ashur (mixed blessing, that).

But no, fate has other plans for her. Within a breath, she finds a rifle pushed into her hands by a man as he passes, before she can even argue. She tries anyway. "Hey!" She calls out to the man, and then turns back to the rifle in her hands. She looks it over. Front, back, down the barrel, side. "...fuck am I supposed to do with this," Surelda grumbles to no one, but holds the rifle all the same, taking a moment to peer around her little partition and see what there is to be seen.

It's almost comical. As Surelda peers around the half-wall, the mech spider is suddenly hovering over her ... and over everything else. Her position is no longer even remotely secure. She stares, her black eyes wide and startled and a little confused by what she's seeing. How does one even process this? Answer: they don't, they just act or freeze.

Surelda acts. "Stupid," she mutters unhappily under her breath. "This is stupid, this is stupid." The AK is lifted, and pointed in the general direction of the giant beast. "Stupid, stupid," she mutters again, and then the gun goes off. Did she pull the trigger? She must of, but suddenly the thing explodes in her hands, sending deadly chunks of metal flying upward. Surelda glares at the gun, and then does it again. This time she doesn't start.

Matt helped prepare as best he could, even handed off his spare rifle to hopefully help keep someone alive. As the mechanical best from Wild Wild West appears, its enough to make a guy think any preparation wasn't enough. But with all the chaos and noise forms a single wall of sound and distraction, making it easy to shut away. Matt raises his rifle up and sights down-barrel as if he could somehow miss the gargantaun mechanobeast. He looses 4 rounds from his rifle, striking true with all rounds and be rewarded with some showering armor plates falling. He thinks he did that.

Well Kae's off to doing something nuts... As she is about to shoot, suddenly her face goes completely slack... She stares at the oncoming walker, and stares, and stares... And yes her eyes flicker briefly and then begin to litterally -glow- those red orbs of hers shining out in the dusk of the light nearly like twin red spotlights as she stares at the walker.

she raises her left hand out, palm upward, sighting down her arm to look at the turret on the bottom of the thing, and those eyes still glow, earily luminescent before she turns her hand sideways. She then slowly well grips, as iff trying to grab hold of something, its as if she were litterally trying to crush the robot with her bare hand at a distance.

The walker shutters at this point, its forward progress litterally stopped. It can't move right now and that turret rocks back and forth, sparks begin to fly and suddenly the turret starts to collapse in on its self, the sound of twisting metal and crunching optics heard quite well across the battlefield, then small internal explosions rock as the turret is litterally crushed to the size of a baseball.

Akane was technically still in Ashur's sight range but not focused on it. She was glad that she noted Surelda had kept to cover and was also in the large man's sight path. But then she noted he was looking at the mech as if it were a new toy. "Gods... One of those..." She ducked her head as she was pelted by small rocks from the explosions and growled to herself. But then she turned and pondered what to shoot at... And then the spider thing was on top of them ahead of her. Damn. But Akane had sharp eyes apparently. and as she fires her pistol she nailed it pretty good.

Carnage like this is the domain of Mars, God of War -- the Legion worships him as the father of Caesar, the Burner of Worlds, who eradicated the old kingdoms of Men in nuclear fire. As the missiles strike the wall, and the Guardians sally forth -- as the tribals dance and hoot and holler and bullets fill the air, this is a stage fit that red-faced tyrant like none other.

But Ashur will not share.

He had made it atop the walls, at some point -- clambered up a shanty roof, bowed beneath his weight; snatched a rope ladder wildly flailing as the fires of the mech spread above it, and slam into the wall, pulling himself higher. When he crests that tattered defense, the mech looms over him like a dread mountain, casting the Legionnaire in shadow. Such are the mass of its limbs, as it climbs, that the displaced wind whips his cloak into a frenzy, billowed up and outward -- damn near miles of fabric, stretched out like a bird's wings.

One metal claw stabs downward; Ashur sidesteps the impalement, leaps upon it, scrambles upward, until he's atop the siege engine and riding it like a wild bull, high atop the world, higher than all others, right where he belongs --

A flash of rockets from the pods soar past his head, as some strange force stills the mechanical monstrosity, and crushes one of its turrets.

Vera brings her carbine up, and sights in on the spider tank. So much fire flying at the thing, its like a walking fourth of july show. "Right...lets try not to mess up today." As she double taps her trigger a couple times, then does it again sending her shots towards the spider...."Never cared for bugs....never will." As she watches her shots hit the thing...

Cooper unholsters his weapon with lightning fast reflexes for a man of his age. A quick draw before he's ready to start taking pot shots at the invaders.

"This isn't my fight." He mutters to himself under his breath, taking in a deep breath before pulling back the trigger of his 10mm pistol sending a round flying out the end of the chamber, a shot at the spider-tank. "Should stay inside drinking." He pauses, before giving off a second shot. "Should have girl on each arm in some dive bar in Pasadena " He then dives into cover behind what had been a mutfruit stall, the perfect cover for a man of his caliber. "I should be on the nightly news dammit!"

Iris finds herself aiming at the spider bot and she sucks in a quick breath as she squeezes off two shots. The plasma burns into the torso of the mech and another one hits low, not that there was anything there to begin with. She blinks as the mech stumbles a bit and scrambles to either take cover or line up another shot. She's not picky as to which at the moment.

Rexus watches the big mech spider thing stomp towards him. Those menacing barrels of his gatling laser swing about and center on the big spider's torso, belching out a flurry of laser blasts that tear into the big beasty. He has to brace with both feet spread far apart, leaning into the recoil to keep the gatling on target. "Get some!" he shouts inside his helmet, he's always wanted to say that.

Eden sees Ashur's towering frame in the confusion. she pauses long enough to touch his arm, so he knows she is there, then moves along to find a good place to shoot. Planting her self she pulls out all the stops and fires. She hits! Loving the damage she caused on this mech creature. It's not often she enjoys destroying mechanical works, but in this case, she makes and exception!

Well she was standing there and just blinked at all the craziness that was going on around her. Lyn would take a step back as it was getting close. Does she run? That would be the smart thing for her to do at a time like this.

Licking her lips she would pull that gun to her shoulder as she stared down the barrel for a moment and took a deep breath. "...and doing dumb stuff like this....is what got your dad killed, kid...." She'd close her eyes then snapped those green eyes back open to fire off two shots. Of course one would miss but the other didn't! "Heck yeah!"

Bouncing up and down doing a bit of a happy dance she would then stop and then slowly started to back up. "....probably should have ran after that....."

Lieutenant Cleopatra McKinsey is standing next to her superior officer, a Captain Hawkins, as he delivers orders to troops along the wall via a short-range radio feeding into a speakercom system. She's using a pair of binoculars - though the left lens being smashed has left them more of a monocular than anything - to take in the battle from atop the wall, relaying tactical information to the Captain to assist him in commanding the militia's troops.

"Another tank disabled," she reports as one of the Enclave's vehicles sets off one of the IEDs to its own demise. "Suggest we reallocate to the walker."

"Noted, Lieutenant," the captain replies before raising his radio to his mouth. "Heavy weapons, focus fire on the -"

"...Sir!"

It's too late by the time that Cleopatra notices the spider walker's gatling plasma turret swiveling toward their position on the wall. From behind her, the sound of a spotter screaming as searing plasma rips through his head fills her ears. She lunges for the captain in a desperate attempt to bring him down and out of harm's way, but too late - one bolt of plasma sizzles past Cleo's face, nearly blinding her, and a split second later Hawkins' head liquefies and vaporizes before the Captain burns down to his boots, leaving a pile of ash.

"Nooo!" Cleo screams as she falls forward through the falling cinders, slamming onto the top of the wall hard enough to bruise.

A few seconds later, dazed, Cleo raises a hand to her head and presses her palm against her brow. Sweat is dripping down her singed face from the heat. It takes a moment to register the sensation of smouldering humain remains underneath her chest, and she recoils, pressing an arm into the burn mark on the stomach of her uniform. "Shit," she wheezes. Sobbing is coming from behind her. She looks down, and sees that the Captain's comm unit is lying, intact, in front of her, a green light showing that the device is still functioning. She picks it up and turns around to the mewling spotter behind her. He's unfortunate enough to be alive - his leg is burnt off to the thigh, the wound cauterized from the plasma.

Her face softens, and so does her voice.

"Listen, Iglesias. This is important. I need you to focus and give me the last coordinates of that spider."

A few seconds later, the speakers across the wall crackle to life with the even tones of a woman with a plan.

"Boom unit six, this is acting Wall Commander McKinsey. Requesting fire mission on direction one-twenty, distance ixteen hundred from my position. Fire for effect." Artillery is most commonly used to stop infantry pushes, as the shrapnel is more effective against soft targets. However, if Cleo's calculations are correct, they should be able to achieve at least one direct hit, which could actually prove worth a damn against the mechanical monstrosity.

"All units on the wall, this is acting Commander McKinsey. I don't care whether you're militia, Guardian, a mercenary, or someone who doesn't even deserve to be here. We're fighting for survival, not just for El Dorado, not just for our families - for New Mexico itself. The Enclave won't stop here unless we make them. Now kill the nearest Enclave member next to you, and when you've done that, fire on that fucking spider."

And then she'll start giving more specific orders to individual units, but not before adding, "Members of the Enclave, if you can hear me - we don't recognize your President here. Better luck in Hell."

A moment later, a bullet whizzes past Cleo's head, and she instinctively drops to the ground behind what cover the makeshift parapets can provide - and continues to give orders in that cool, collected tone, even as her ears ring and perspiration continues to trickle down her face.

That spider tank is no joke. Carter has no idea where the hell it came from, but he knows where the hell to send it to. As shots rain down in every direction, both towards the defenses, and away from them, he drops down into a better firing position, attempting to find a good way to get a shot on the tank.

The rocket launcher is kept on his shoulder as he sneaks through, well not really sneaking, as it's hard to sneak with the volume of firepower flying every which way. Still, he manages to find a good spot, setting up with the launcher at one of the points where he can get a good shot. There's chinks in the armor now, easy enough to spot. Now it's just a matter of hitting one of those spots. He braces the launcher as best he can, and takes a deep breath, exhaling and then squeezing that trigger.

The rocket launches from the weapon with full force behind it, the warhead sailing through the air and striking into one of the exposed weakpoints. Carter pumps a fist in the air and then quickly ducks back behind cover.

Lucette had taken time to get all her things in neat, tidy order. Get on her shades, make sure everything was loaded and cleaned and prepared to do the most terrible of things. The sound of fighting was a good call to action. But seeing ANOTHER DAMN SPIDER ROBOT was not on Lucette's list of expectations. All of her affairs were thusfar in order and hesitation was not there this day.

Her left hand dips down to the holster on the same hip and takes out her most favourite Piece, firing off a quick cross of plasma into the air that goes terribly wide. The second shot she fires with a rather pumped upward swing of her arm, shouting out her anger in a controlled burst.

"ZAX! Your traitorous ways will be the death of America, and all the people that could bring it back to glory! Stop wasting good troops for this silly domestic dispute and HELP THESE PEOPLE rebuild our glorious nation! Your lack of decorum sickens me."

For whatever reason or another, the cross-bolt of plasma sweeps up to skim over multiple parts of the mech before burning into a solid hit. It looks like Ashur is already fisting another giant robot, she's not surprised at this point.

Knight-Captain Rexus is right up in the middle of it. Bodies are piled up around the Brotherhood of Steel Officer, that big ole gatling laser ripping Enclave, Gunners and all manner of baddies to shreds. "Pour it into'em! Come on men!" he shouts at the others in his vicinity. The glare from that gatling laser is sure to draw fire, tracers work both ways... or in this case, laser beams. It also seems to act as a beacon, drawing whatever other Brotherhood Knights there may be to form a little bubble of Power Armor Awesomeness.

Lee is late to the fight. It's always like that. Especially with all the crap going on? So no real surprise there. Sweating and already messed up some within that armor, he'd tighten that grip on the sledge to make sure he doesn't lose it while he'd charge this line. There's Cleo.. and there's a fraggin mess.. "Crap.." He'd keep chugging, the salavaged power armor without it's power components slowing him donw more than helping now as he'd rush to try and get in line with the others. That comm clicks over to the militia channel. "Private Lee, reportin in.. LT, it's a fraggin mess!!"

Ah. Everything was going so well! The spider mechanobeast took a bunch of damage from concentrated fire! Rockets and gatling lasers everywhere! Unfortunately the enemies get to shoot back, and Matt's stand-up to shoot thing was noticed very quickly. Bullets pierce through his chest and leg sent from behind enemy lines. His legs wobble and he tumbles backwards in time with the spider's onslaught as well. Blood spills, sprays and pools underneath him and his vision goes hazy. "Ah shit, I think I rolled my ankle..." Is the last words sputtered from Matt's lips before he passes out.

Surelda takes a moment to stare after the shots she fired, her eyes taking on a glazed look of bewilderment. She can't actually believe she hit it! Granted, it's easier than hitting the broad side of a barn, and yet. She's lying prone now, against the half-wall, trying to take in as much cover as possible. Her legs are stacked and she is on her side, torso listed up on one elbow as she watches the scene unfold.

A slow grin breaks across her features as as the reality of her success, minor though it was, sinks in. Pride is a sin, and she's sinning! Rather than fire again, she watches the firworks of explosions and ricochets from the concentrated fire.

The smile slowly fades though as she sees Ashur climbing on the robot and tearing it aparts with his bare hands. She squints ... is that really happening? "Fuck me," she mutters in bewilderment. Because really, you don't see that every day.

It was the finest hour in the history of El Dorado, the heroes of the past paling in comparison to the bravery and valor of those on the field today.

The tribals of the Sand Vipers tribe stand victoriously over the cockpit of a tank they have defeated only for it to self-destruct on their position, wiping out nearly a hundred of their finest warriors and elders in a single moment.

As the survivors recovered their bearing, it was Rexus who saw The Enclave Commandos bearing down on them and if not for his engagement of them and subsequent wounds; it was likely they would have been massacred.

Cleo is targeted by a sniper that catches her with a high-caliber round before a near-by sharpshooter from her unit takes aim and takes down the sniper moments before a barrage of rockets impacts the position.

The Marksman who had saved Cleo is obliterated and she is only saved by the timely arrival of Lee who is able to shield her from the blast at great cost to himself, his armor the only thing that managed to keep him from becoming a charred corpse like the dozens of soldiers around Cleo.

Surelda is hit by a series of stray laser blasts along with a group of civilians who had joined the fight, her life only saved by Kaelyn's mysterious destruction of the laser gatling on the Spider-Mech; then again nobody really knew what she did.

Caldwell finds himself amidst the other Guardians as they make their final stand, many of them older Brotherhood Knights and Paladins who had helped guide him in the past year. Explosions and gunfire filled the area, power armor suits detonated as old men committed suicide in glorious last stands.

As the battle began to wind down, Caldwell found himself one of the only Guardians left on the field still; those men and women who had joined the organization had paid the ultimate price in the defense of their new home, El Dorado.

Matt is mistaken for someone of importance as a Sniper hits him, and a barrage of missiles later hits his position sending bodies flying.

The rubble of the walls collapses on Matt as more rockets hit, and it is only that debris covering the young man that saves his life.

As the Spider-Mech and the Enclave make their final disastrous push, it is Ashur who finds himself the target of repeated attacks from all sides as he assaults the mech with a group of other insane and like-minded people in close combat.

As the final artillery strikes ordered by Cleo hit the walker and cause critical systems to explode in glorious fireballs and gouts of flame, Ashur and those men and women are engulfed by that flame. Their screams drowned out by the sounds of the battlefield. Like so many battles before, Ashur would emerge the only survivor of what many would call a suicidal charge; suicide for anyone but him.

The Enclave lines had been broken beyond all expectation and in a wave of valor and heroism, the defenders on the wall began to push out towards the surviving members of The Enclave and the mercenaries they had hired.

The Enclave, and The Gunner Mercenaries they had hired were retreating.

Well.. today? It was offically.. a bad day. Lee grits his teeth as he'd see Cleo go down. The emotion is raw in that yell over the comm. "CLEO!!!!" Lee rushes her position. That armor flowing with him for once, a pale image of the others of the Brotherhood as they'd go down. Lee dives, grunting, then yelling out in pain as his world turns into that turbulent eruption of explosions around them. His final concious act being to pull Cleo close, covering her downed form bodily as he'd get ravaged by the explosions. When the dust settles, he's to the side, his armor almost as messed up as he was, but.. well. Lee is still bleeding. That means he's still living.

Death is raining down around them and when someone from the militia goes down Iris stows her pistol and rushes over to try to help. She yanks bandages from her rucksack and tries to quickly wrap the injured areas enough to stop the blood loss. The man groans softly and Iris is about to speak up to reassure him when the world explodes. People scream and she ducks covering her head with her arms as she freezes, waiting for the explosions to stop. When the explosion stops, there are a lot of people on the ground, horribly injured.

Vera checks herself, as she watches the destruction on the field of battle....and takes in the death as well. "So much lost, for so little...but a win is a win...we really should look into getting some heavier weaponry like that spider. Explodes nice though." as she checks over her weapon as well...

With the Siege seemingly broken, Carter takes pot shots at the retreating Enclave and Gunners. After all, the less of them that walk off the field, the less chance they'll come back.

Not with the rocket launcher of course, that would be a waste of ammo, except maybe on the guys in power armor, if any of them managed to stay standing. No, he's not even really doing much other than trying to pick off stragglers.

One he gets done with that, he looks around the devestated walls, frowning. He goes to look for any other members of the NCR who were in the battle...This was huge, maybe even bigger than the Hoover Dam battle. The Legion didn't have tanks and power armor, after all.

Caldwell struggles to his feet, looking over the charred power armor of his brothers and sisters, giving a brief prayer en masse to those of his that had fallen. He checks over his laser musket and sighs to himself, strapping it to his back and shaking his head sadly. "Hopefully the Enclave don't try that shit again, we don't have any more people to lose. I just lost most if not all of my soldiers." he mutters to himself.

Lyn had dodged shrapnel and all that fun stuff while she was watching on in horror. "...this is just....stupid." When the dust settled, she'd just look around and just shook her head. "...all this...for what?" Looking around she would see Matt not far from her, laying on the ground. Running over, she'd slide to a stop then crouched down as she leaned in, putting her face in his and felt...breathing. Sighing, she'd put his head in her lap and shook her head. "....dang, kid...."

Akane ducked down as the explosions tore through everything around her, somehow untouched except by those little bits of debris When the cacophony had died down some she looked around, checking those around her. The carnage. She stood up slowly, spotting Lee, dangerously wounded. Ashur.. was he still alive? Surelda... Damn. The girl looked like she wasn't the worst of it. so Akane jogged over to her and yelled. "Put pressure on it!" Then headed off to check on Lee, already opening her packs as she ran, her eyes darker than they were, her face serious and her crimson hair now exposed flying behind her as it came undone from its ties. She might have shown fear before but now? Now it was clear why she had been wanted by the War God's Temple. She looked like a goddess surrounded by carnage. She bit into a bandage pack and spoke to Lee. "You still with us, Sir Lee?"

Cooper steps fourth from behind the remains of what had been a fruit stand at one point in time. Now little more then a pile of debris like so much of this hellish landscape once known as home.

Spinning his pistol around his finger he slams the hand back down sending the weapon of soldier destruction right back where it belongs. At his side safe and sound.

Walking through the carnage he comes along to the stool in the wreckage of what had been the bar he'd gone to so many times before. Only a single stool, and a glass of beer lays left abandoned on the counter top.

With a low sigh and a tip of his cap, he begins drinking. Drinking in the midst of the fire, the flames the death and the decay, as he had done so many times before, as he would so many times after. This was the life he'd chosen, the life of a currier. There was no turning back, no growing too attached before he had to move on. So long as the money kept flowing from this city he'd stick around. But with so much damage... was there any money left to be drained from the place.

He kicks back a sip of the glass, and then one more, as the charred remains of an enclave soldier rests beneath his feet, just one of the many men who'd died fighting to assault, or defend the town.

A free hand reaches down for a moment, grabbing a bottle with a burnt label left clutched in the hands of a looter. In that moment he pours a fresh glass to the brim for himself, and another for the dead.

Surelda sees it happening just before it happens. There's nothing she could do anyway.

The lazer sets a squat building ablaze to her left. The next one dustifies several citizens engaging in the fight. The next? The next is for Surelda.

She throws torso down to the ground and drops her weapon, covering her head and neck with both of her hands and her arms. It does nothing. The shot from the lazer cuts right through the cinder block half-wall, strafing Surelda by hitting her right leg.

The scream that she elicits cuts through many other cries and shouts. It is a visceral sound, an animalistic sound, almost hoarse in it's single sound.

And that pale face? It's contorted in horror and pain, tears springing almost immeidatly from her eyes.

She remains still, entirely still, letting out another long cry. And then another. Finally, she dares to turn and look at the damage.

Not the smartest idea.

The flounced skirt is neary halved. The boot is gone. The legging is gone. Second degree burns are already starting to bubble in her white-turned-red-turned-white scorched flesh. And then there's the smell. It wafts around her hotly, mingling with the smells of the evaporated citizens, floating up to the sky with the ugly scent of burning tires and more.

It sure was a doozy of a battle! Having engaged the Mech... and the Enclave Commandos, Knight-Captain Rexus is pretty battered. His power armor is dotted with holes and smoking from more than one spot. More than a few shots have penetrated, with rivulets of blood oozing from a few of the holes lower down around his knees and ankles. His headlamp flickers a bit as he leans against the wall.

He takes a few recovering breathes before straightening up, limping towards the edge of the wall to peer down at the destruction.

Dies irae! The world ends around Ashur -- sheets of explosive flame rise and blot out the sky, while superheated bolts of energy cut through the softer flames to scorch him. The heat builds, all around him burns, consumed by hellfire.. the temperature rises, brightens, until even he has to shield his eyes, turn, being lost in the cataclysmic conflagration that erupts from the mech's molten core.

The enormous spider slows, stumbles, and strikes the ground as it self-destructs. The wall breaks beneath and around it, and a legion of poor shanty homes are crushed or set ablaze; and as the flames lick, and burning men and women stumble away from the scene and die piteously, Ashur, bloodied and standing, appears as black-charred silhouette.

He walks through the fire, alive, somehow -- unbroken, somehow. He walks across red-hot metal and smoking shrapnel, descends from his spidery throne, clenches his fists, and throws his arms into the air, leaning back and letting out a primal howl.

Kae was still standing a bit with her hand outstretched, meanwhile CORA is calling out "OHMYGOD that was sooo cool! You crushed that gatlin laser with your mind!?!?! Yaaay all that research and modding it all worked!!!" Kae blinks and looks down at CORA and stares a moment "What did I do?" There's a comical whirring and a thud as CORA's avatar falls over and lands with x's for eyes... CORA then calls out "If I could I'd so slap you upside your head!" Kae then blinks and rubs her nose, wiping the blood from it off on her pants... "I feel like my head's ringing..." CORA then shouts "It's cause you used that hard head of yours to litterally crush a mech's turret!" Kae then blinks and ooh's "I did? Nifty!" she calls out cheerfully.

Then Kae blinks at Ashur and waves her arms "I helped! Evidently I crushed the gatlin plasma laser thingie with my mind or something!"

As things begin to break away there's a look of unease, rather than triumph on Lucette's face. Explosions, stray fire, destruction. Things exploded, it looked like the militia was having a not-terrible time fending off the Enclave. She isn't so sure this is the end, not so quickly. She hears that cry from Ashur. Half tempted to ironically put a bullet in his leg to stop him, just to remind him of his mortality. But thusfar he's been just fine with his courageous efforts and she leaves it be.

Scross is holstered and Luce starts clicking her tongue, "If anyone's down and not out, MAKE SOME NOISE OR SOMETHING!" she shouts into the air. That spider's a terrible beast of war, and she's desperately hoping that there are no more than one or two more in existance while scanning for survivors. One explosion she saw had made someone she thought was familiar vanish, and thus, she goes to take out her medkit and rush over to where Matt was to start picking debris up. "I need a shovel or something." is what she comments on her current equipment.

She'd look around and then down at Matt as she then called out. "Can someone help me carry him!?" Lyn would slowly stand up as she startedt to look him over. Those brows would furrow before she would just shake her head then. "Anyone!?" Not was she was looking to do after this but he definitely needed a doctor.

"...unit, advance and flush out their spotters at position - hnnk!" There's only the momentary sound of the high velocity sniper round punching through the rusty metal parapet behind Cleo as the Enclave marksman finds his quarry through the thin, obscuring cover.

She can already feel herself going cold as the sound of Lee's voice reaches her, muddied as if through water. She looks down to see crimson blossoming across the front of her black uniform shirt.

Is that the lung? The heart? Cleo finds herself wondering, but unable to bring her normally sharp mind to bear on the situation as it's dulled by pain and blood loss. The radio in her hand clatters to the ground as her clammy grip goes slack. She sees the familiar metal-encased form of Lee bearing down on her, strains to try to suck in a deep breath - then blacks out as the wall is rocked by explosions, safe underneath Lee's armored form.

In the hours following the Siege being broken, bursts of static followed by broken transmissions that had to be gone over multiple times were the norm. El Dorado was not the only place to suffer an assault by The Enclave.

Interrogated soldiers following the battle revealed that this was part of Operation: Overlord, The Enclave's plan to re-establish the United States of America once more. They truly believe in their cause, they thought of you all as tainted mutants who had been granted mercy and denied it.

If the interrogations were to be believed, Operation: Overlord was not limited to New Mexico, but had been an all-out assault across the West and Mid-West by Enclave Remnants that had not fled East.

It was likely the New California Republic had held out, but with long range communications down; nobody could be quite sure what was happening across multiple states. The United States of America Presidential Addresses that permeated the Wasteland would claim it had been nuked.

Further addresses would proclaim that civilization had returned and The United States of America had been re-established in over seven states, including New Mexico which had 'ceded' the southern portion of the state into mutant over-run Mexico.

A New World Over had been established in The Wasteland. The Enclave had returned in full-force and for once, it would seem that their plans had worked even if a group of settlements in Southern New Mexico led by El Dorado had stood against them.

The fight against The Enclave had only just begun, with the stakes being freedom itself.

It was the dawning of a new age in not only New Mexico but America itself.

@emit Eden sees Ashur celebrating, but knows he is hurt to. The Doctors are focusing on the severest of wounds. Walking closer to him through the debris she calls out to him. Still too much clamor to hear her small voice. So she goes right to him. "my hero- you're hurt. let me help a little." she smirks a bit. "Did you see my shot too? I'm getting better! I can actually hit a superhumoungous target now." laughing she pulls outt her little medkit and does what she can to help with the superficial things. The doctor will still have to see him, but he won't be getting his turn for a while by the looks of things.

Lee is barely aware. Somewhere, off to the side, comes that calling.. Sir Lee? What.. did he have his crossbow still? Eyes blurrily open, then quickly shut. That hurt. Lee's response to Akane is simply.. a grunt. One of pain as he stirred. Ok.. well.. nothing overly broken.. but boy was he hella messed up. "Check.. Cleo.." Lee would croak out horsely to Akane. He's probably done for.. but the officer needed to be helped.. Cleo needed to be helped..

Akane he Lee speaks, faintly and looked over toward the other wounded nearby, turning her paltry attention to her. "Lady Cleo? Hey. Victory. Relax." Her voice was soothing and gentle, a soft smile on her face even as she surveyed the damage. The first step, stop the bleeding... Pressure bandages would help a lot right now. Ah well, the crimson haired angel leaned down and pressed a bandage to the worst of the bleeding after applying a clotting agent. Then the dainty looking woman put pressure there. There would be pain, yes, but she would save Cleo's life.

"Well done," Ashur calls to Kaelyn, letting his hands fall. The bristles of his beard are charred black; when he scratches them, so many of the hairs crumble away into a dark dust lost to the fire's drafts. His flesh is marked by many a burn, and it is a mean feat to count precisely how many chunks of shrapnel are lodged in his muscles -- the blood runs down his arms, his chest, his face.

And while so many around him moan and mourn, and little Eden frets, all the Legionnaire can do is laugh. There is no sorrow in his heart this day, no compassion for the injured -- merely that feeling, sweet as sex, that surges through him; that absolute, dominating sense of power that comes from surviving against all the odds.

It is probable that not a single other person in El Dorado will appreciate Ashur laughing like a wild dog as their home burns and their friends die.

Cooper remains silent, looking down at the glass in his hand. He's not rushing around to save anyone, or even scouting for survivors. No he just sets on that bar stool in the middle of what had been a bar, in the middle of the burning rubble, drinking himself back under the table.

He's completely uninjured unlike so many of the people who had given their lives to protect the small slice of freedom. Not even a scratch on his faded patchwork suit. His hat goes off of his head and is set down onto the burnt remains of the bar. His expression is a flat one, not one of fear, or anger, or pain, or remorse, just flat, as his gaze goes through the glass on for miles.

"Another day, another war, never seems to change." Finally spoken up not to anyone just to the air of the burnt bar. "Wonder where the next pitstop is."

Lynnette's request for help to move Matt has Lucette taking her medkit out to the front. Immediate treatment to him, first scrubbing wounds, then an application of healing powder and immediate wrapping. "We can get his clothes off once we're somewhere more stable." she calls up, "WE NEED TO START MOVING INJURED INTO TRIAGE, OR THE BAD ONES AREN'T GONNA BE INJURED TOO MUCH LONGER!"